Salvia oxyphora: an unusual sage

rich_dufresne(z7 NC)January 25, 2011

Salvia oxyphora is a really unusual sage from Bolivia. It is a wonderful summer bloomer, and should do well as a temperennial in the northern US and a spring and summer bloomer in the south. I expect it to have perhaps zone 8 hardineaa.

I got a couple of rooted cuttings from Scot Zona last June, and they grew very well throughout the 90 degree summer, as long as they were well fed and watered. I was too busy propagating them to leave many flowering stems develop. The plants would come to a halt when the roots filled the pot they were in, which was rather soon. The roots formed a dense mass, with not many trunk roots visible. Lower eaves would yellow and drop off. Growth would resume quickly when repotted with potting soil containing slow-release fertilizer. It took summer heat as well as S. miniata, a low mountain sage from Chiapas and Belize.

From this, I've determined that in the southern states, it needs to be planted best in some shade in a well-drained soil with ample humus. It will be a thirsty plant.

In the north, it needs the same soil, but will need more sun. It should make a splendid container plant.

It is unusual in not setting seed in the wild. Although it is widely distributed in ten spots, the populations are small. It may persist by the mechanism I've inferred from its beahior under cool, damp conditions:

Cuttings root very quickly during warm to hot weather. With small plants done going into winter, the tops break off easily at the nodes, even from the pressure from a hard watering. The emergency cuttings stay turgid, even in a flat with other sages like S. leucantha, which tend to wilt and damp off some. These cuttings are not getting bottom heat. The pots that have lost their tops come back from the lower nodes, but need to be kept dryish and in full sun. In order to come back, they need to be fairly well established in the pots.

I infer that the populations may maintain themselves by having growing tips shatter off in seasonal rains, then get washes downstream to a location where they lodge in loose vegetation, then persist until they root.

It would be interesting to see how they are distributed around streams and flood plains in the wild.

Its funny that you posted this. about a month ago i was down in my garden, and i found the new s. oxyphora i purchased from you trampled by my wonderful dogs. They had broken three of the branches off of my newly planted beauty. i took the cuttings and stuck them in the ground around the plant thinking...."its cold, wet, and part shade. they will never root." But they did. We are having a funny winter. Dec with 10 inches and almost freezing weather, and they still rooted. That is our yearly amount. I think im going to love this one. Its doing great. Purple stem sage is doing excellent out here too, still blooming.

brent

p.s. as soon as some plants can get to you without chance of freezing, i have some new ones for you.

The one i got from you flowered shortly after i got it. It still hasnt stopped. It is setting seed here, but hasnt gotten large enough to collect. Do you want pictures? It is currently 2.5 ft tall and blooming quite a bit. Let me know.

Yes, I would! Dr. John Wood of RBG Kew, who last collected and studied it and Dr. Petra Wester (University of Mainz, Germany), who studied it for her hummingbird study, both said it did not set seed in the wild, so a close-up of a seed head would be welcomed by them and Robin Middleton. Cabrillo College, Christian Froissart, and Betsy Clebsch would probably also like to share this information.

I thought it might set seed in CA... hooray for our Anna's hummingbirds!! :-) I'd like to see a picture as well. Now I really need to get my hands on this plant... after hearing how well it's doing in CA!

This thread seems to be confusing Salvia oxyphora and "Purple Stem Sage"...whatever that is. Don't know what 'Purple Stem Sage' is, would have to see many more photos of this. This could be one of many similar Mexican species, whereas Salvia oxyphora is unique and instantly recognisable, both from foliage and flowers, and it is only found in Bolivia.

Oxyphora is truly amazing, and adapts to the British climate very well, is happy with our unpredictable summer. Seems to like a fertile, well-drained soil. Not really hardy here, it may survive a cold winter, but if so, will not flower until October. But, cuttings over-wintered under glass will flower from June onwards outside. In a hot climate, such as Queensland, Australia, it is mildly invasive, from underground stolons. Yet to hear of anyone finding seed from this beautiful Salvia.

IMG 2169 and 2170 are 'curtis blue' it might be a form of keerlii coming from what you and robin told me. Robin has some seed and will verify later in the year. to me, keerlii has a different flower form and color. also leaf color of keerlii is slightly darker and more 'blue'. leaf shape is somewhat similar. It is very aromatic. Blooms out here non-stop. seed is tini less than 1mm in size. Germinates true. about 6ft tall by 4ft wide. 2-3in elliptic sometime ovate leaves that are pubescent almost furry to the touch. flowers are 1/2" to 3/4" at the most that are blue with white beelines like in the piture. I dont have keerlii to compare it to directly, so im just going off an older salvia gardeners guide.

I love it. A great universal salvia. good in shade or direct sun, and very drought tolerant(but becomes thin and shrubby under drought....still flowers!!)

Ill get you some and you can see. But, ill take another guess from you if you want to give it.

Mine was also 3ft tall, it flowered in full sun and took a while to flower in the tropics, every year the flower bud
would set then the flowers would abort, last spring this baby burst into life and stayed in flower right uptil winter commenced....

This was planted as a young cutting last June and flowered at about 4ft at end August. The pic shows shoots coming from a stolon at about 4" from the original plant. The stolon is about 7" in full length.

Im going to put this one back up because it was mentioned the other day to me. I really thought it wasnt going to do well for me, but i was very suprised. S. oxyphora is in heaven out here. It get afternoon sun and i thought it was going to burn or wilt or die even. So i took extra cuttings to prepare. It is doing great! I got it last year from Rich, and planted it this spring. We are hot now and it has been flowering for two months and not stopping. Grows like a weed, and needs fertility. But i love this plant! We will see how it does in the reall heat! We are now hitting the 100's. The hummers love it too. I will be checking it for seed.

My small plants that were rooted about 12 weeks ago, then repotted in gallon containers 6.5 weeks ago are just about to bloom, and the info that it needs to be 1.5 feet tall to begin bud formation. The stems are much more sturdy at this stage than they are when they break dormancy in the spring. At that time, a hard watering can shatter the growing ends at the nodes. The resulting pieces don't wilt as much as other cuttings, and will root, though slowly.

I'll take some images and upload them fairly soon.

I've managed to get a lot of plants out to various areas and have asked that photos be sent.

And I quite agree that it is a heavy feeder and water hog in hot summers.

I have been following this conversation with great interest on this new plant. I recieved my plant from Rich on about 5-19. At first it grew painfully slow then I kicked into high gear and started watering and feeding heavily.

Marvellous! This Salvia is really special! The nectar is very strong and sweet, and in the UK, it seems to attract ants and wasps, unfortunately.

Compared to last year, when I had blooms in June, it has been slow this year, my plants only just in bud. English weather invariably makes things "interesting!" Have also read many comments on the Hummingbird forum as to how differently it behaves in different parts of the USA.

Yes I can tell the nectar must be a high content by the ants having discovered it. What surprises me is the hummers lack of interest in it. 3 or 4 times I have seen a hummer briefly test it and then leave abruptly. But today for the first time I saw one actually stick its beak deeply into the flowers . I have quite a few other flowers in the same garden so its like they are fixed routinely to hit only certain plants and anything new is ignored.

It seems that S. oxyphora sets seeds after all!!! But don't get excited! Two seeds only were found on a plant in Argentina.......one has germinated...took 6 weeks (?) but seems to be the real thing. Meanwhile, propagate from cuttings.

A new and rare Salvia, recently found in Guatemala/Mexico borders, Salvia carrilloi..........seems to be a wonderful species.....look at the photo on www.salvias.com.ar....and notice the similarity of the bud formation to that of oxyphora!

My oxyphora did not make our drought or 80 days of
temps over 100. Still no end to the Texas drought going into next year.Just hope they are wrong.
The winners so far regla,miniata,coccinea,some greggi and microphylla ssp. Silver leaf, macrophylla,sagittata, x Big Swing,ballotaeflora, x Wendies Wish ,a few mexicana forms and guarantica took our two days's of 112 degree temps.
Art

That is certainly a terrible drought you have endured down there and Im guessing you are on limited water supplies.

Water is one thing sal. oxyphora craves more than most I found. We had some days around and over 100 but mine did quite well. Half of my plant was buried under a huge blue ensign and that half did not bloom but I cautiously moved the plant out from under it with a large dirt/rootball enough to where the other half also excelled and it is still doing well with 15 flowering stems. I was a little disappointed the hummers snubbed the plant at least up untill august migration started and then more and more it was used.

As a follow-up to my post of June 8th, the oxyphora that had survived the winter started to open its flower buds and show that delicious furry red flower on 25th September. This is some 6 to 8 weeks after plants that were grown as small over-wintered cuttings first flowered.

Earlier, I mentioned a new Salvia called Salvia carrilloi, which I thought resembled S. oxyphora. Because of coincidence, a collector in Guatemala also named a new sage S. carrilloi. So, the one I referred to has been tentatively re-named as Salvia carriyesii.

Concerning salvia oxyphora I can agree with Robin as I was able to collect 4 seeds, but this plant is stingy about giving forth many. I also experienced that this plant loves water as much as it loves sun, no I mean it loves WATER! I also fed it quite heavy and it just kept on producing and producing. Ants and bees were all over this thing backing up the notion the nectar must be quite strong.

I found S. oxyphora easy to self pollinate by hand in my greenhouse, and so I finally turned to trying crosses. So far I haven't had any seed set from those attempts but will keep crossing with whatever else is in bloom. I've got about 2-3 dozen seed from the initial hand (self) pollination I did, and the half dozen seed that I've planted germinated readily.

Correction to that, there are actually ~75 S. oxyphora seed in that baggie. Amazing how they add up. I wish it hybridized as easily.

I found a recent reference on crossing Salvia species but haven't been able to track down the full article yet. Has anyone read it?: Tychonievich J, Warner RM. Interspecific Crossability of Selected Salvia Species and Potential Use for Crop Improvement. J Am Soc Hort Sci. 136: 41-47, 2011.

I have it. Joseph Tychonievich sent me a copy, so I'll forward it to you.

He reported a cross of a Eurasian species with one of the Latin American ones. The hybrid looks mostly like the Eurasian one, with minor differences. It is proprietary, and won't be released.

Most of my oxyphora plants are still blooming. We are having a nice winter for a change. Even my S. lineata and S. stolonifera are forming very robust tubers and stolons on the small plants. It looks like I'll be able to put in some small raised beds next year, using some sand and expanded slate pellets for drainage and protection against voles.

I have several different cuttings inside under lights which I took late summer. One salvia oxyphora that seemed to survive just sat there doing nothing [when the other cuttings were growing] it seemed for the past couple of months but now it has finally sprouted some new leaves, a couple small stems. I was beginning to think it was dead. Im wondering if anyone else have experienced this kind of ,,, what shall I call it partial dormancy with this plant.

Rich, thanks for the article. I haven't had a chance yet to read it in depth but plan to do that this weekend. The degree of variability in chromosome number of different salvias is really fascinating.

My oxyphora cuttings, taken this fall, haven't slowed down, but the parent plant is 'resting'. I had to sow the rest of my seed this week because they were starting to germinate in the plastic baggie. If they germinate at the same rate as the first half dozen I planted I'm going to have quite the oxyphora forest. It'll be interesting to see how much variation there is, since it sounds like most of us are probably growing the same clone.

In case anyone is interested, I've got germination of my oxyphora 12 days after sowing. They've been in the greenhouse with temps ranging from 60-75 degrees and were sown soon after ripening, with the brief stay as noted in the plastic baggie.

Karen, I just read the article re crossing different species of salvias. Unfortunately, it only addresses crosses between a few species. Its main point seems to be that sometimes two Salvias with equal numbers of chromosomes will not produce viable seed. However, others with unequal chromosomes, notably S, transylvanica x S. nemorosa were very successful. I am raising seedlings of S. penstemonoides that I intend to try crossing with several other types and I had hoped to gleam some information that would suggest likely candidates. (I have enough to trade for some S. oxyphora if you are interested.) Rich, do you have any suggestions of which other Salvia would be more likely to produce viable seed when crossed with S. penstemonoides?

Ralph, I still need to get you over here to visit one of these days. I'm going to be swimming in oxyphora seedlings soon, but I've also got a few well rooted cuttings from last fall. You're welcome to either or both, and I'd love to get hold of S. penstemonoides again. I've also got fresh seed from S. squalens (selfed) and am trying to do some crosses with S. univerticillata and S. dorisiana.

Well I have this one cutting that I have nursed thru this winter [the only oxy to prevail] and I started with only two or three leaves and it pretty much remained that way to the point I was thinking it might be dead. I took this cutting in late summer. So after many months it seems finally its starting to grow some. Just recently it even has shot up a new lower stem. I now suspect it move into a better growing mode.

As I did mention earlier in this thread I was able to collect 4 seeds from oxyphora and I have sown those inside under cover so far no results. Im guessing these will take their sweet time. I noticed that cuttings also grow much more slowly during winter than any other cuttings. It all seems to be a learning experience with these guys. This plant in my garden like everything else gets chopped to the ground then covered with tarp or heavy plastic. I get 100% return with this method "Dons Method".

I'll be building a totally screened in nursery table soon, so I can do hand pollination of potted plants during the growing season. I hope to get a lot of crosses done this year.

I hope to repair my old refrigerator and also build a storage case where I will store both pollen and seed.

I'm not too surprised to hear that dorisiana and univerticillata have crossed, If the hybrid is vigorous and takes to good summer growth, it might make a nice introduction as an herb, since the c=scents of both parents are similar. Be sure to select for a nice scent.

Everyone is still waiting on that one. There seems to be some sort of snag involving getting it listed as PPAF (plant patent applied for) either here or in Europe. I can't speak for the person who has the rights for this plant. No one in the US has a handle on the situatiion, as far as I know.

Can someone tell me if this sage is very slow about returning. So far I have no signs of any foliage around or on the old wood. These were covered for the winter. At least I am glad I took cuttings that I can use.

Beautiful sage! Rich when do you start selling plants? We have similar
weather, and are there any in particular you would recommend? I just
recently received some plants I ordered online. This is what I ordered.
I will take cuttings of the salvia's that are not hardy here.

They can be slow coming back. It depends on how big they got, and the number of stolons and subdivisions that were produced underground. These will have active nodes that will produce axillary growth. The survival of these nodes mostly depends on frost penetration, and the robustness of the nodes and their connection to stored food sources like tubers and rhizomes. The slowness of soil temperatures to warm up is also a factor controlling the time of emergence.

When I propagate plants, I like to make sure I have at least one active node under the soil line; when I set them out, I like to plant them a few nodes deeper, again to increase the chances of forming a good underground system.

This sage is too new to make many claims right now, and your experiences and reporting are valuable.

I can say that it has come back for most everyone I've talked to in North Carolina in zone USDA Zone 7, which had a zone 8 winter. It's too early to make reliable hardiness claims colder than Zone 8.

Never assume that this Salvia is winter-hardy. It may come back in a warm area, but if so, will be very late to flower. I take cuttings in late summer, easy to root, and keep these fairly dry and frost-free in winter. By April/May they will take off, and flower from June onwards.....though they are sulking a bit in the current dreadful English summer! So much rain makes the buds abort.

I never assumed they were winter hardy, considering they were in my main garden bed the entire bed gets cut down then covered each winter with tarp, heavy plastic and/or bags of leaves/mulch and most everything returns when before I did this most did not return. Obviously I will once again take cuttings even though mine failed last winter.

With oxyphora, you will need medium-sized plants with some appreciable root stock to winter it over. I have gotten my best results with plants in 3.5 inch pots that have grown a main stem with at least eight nodes and several side shoots. The roots should at least reach all the faces of the pot, but need not cover the faces. In other words, the soil should not fall off the roots when the plant is lifted out the pot.

Oxyphora needs about 3 to 4 weeks of decent growth to get to this stage. When I tried to overwinter just potted rooted cuttings when growth had stopped I lost over 70% of the plants, and the remainder sputtered along.

This is optimal for almost all overwintered plants.

We are about through with a really long 100 degree spell, and some of my plants were blasted, primarily because of lousy timing on watering - some too soon or deeply, with resulting root rot, and some because I got to them too late. My nursery that holds my collection is a mile from my residence.

This season I have noticed good use of my oxyphora by hummingbirds compared to last year which had hardly had any use. This season is several times a day of use which I observe. Last season I didnt see any use untill peak migration and then very slight so Im very happy about that. No matter I had intended to keep growing oxyphora just for its uniqueness for myself at least as long as I can keep them going. They are going thru the torture test this summer along with everything else.

I visited both the JC Raulston Arboretum and Plant Delights this year, and oxyphora is in bloom. It looks to me that blooming was delayed for about a month because of heat. The plants were robust, though.

I'd really like to try this sage next year. It is very cool-looking. I may have a spot open in my garden. The spot gets afternoon and evening sun. It is against the garage and gets quite hot, likely the hottest spot in the entire yard. The sun reflects off the siding and the general area is pretty enclosed as well. The last two years I've had black & blue and schumannii in that spot and both have struggled if not watered daily. Would oxyphora be ok in such a hot location?

After just 2 years of growing this one I am still working out what it wants. Last year's plant was wintered over on my cold porch and planted this spring at the edge of the garden in rather sandy soil. It is now about 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Rich isn't the only one who suspected excessive heat may have delayed bloom because mine didn't really hits its stride until into August after the weather broke. My take is that it likes regular watering since other cuttings which didn't get regular water didn't grow particularly well. I am also concluding that you can only expect so much from a cutting in its first year and that two year or older plants are much much better.

Salvia oxyphora was rather late this year, and blooms appeared early August from large plants only. I'm just now seeing flowers on the medium sized ones. That's also true for most other salvias.

A lot of my sages were set back quite a bit by the ten day 100 degree hot spell. There were delayed effects that carried over through late August. For me, this means that I lose both small and stock plants. I'd taken cuttings from Tony Avent's trial garden early August, and most did not root (I don't have a misting system). When I went back mid-September for replacements, I found that some of the same trial plants I had lost in pots had also either died or weakened in Tony's beds during the mostly 90 degree August, which was not that unusual. The new batch of cuttings seemed to root much better.

The horticulture of these new sages needs investigation. Temperature range for optimal growth, watering frequency, soil types (especially humus and drainage), as well as exposure (full microclimate conditions included), and fertility needs are at the top of the list.

Last fall the cuttings rooted at 100%. If the new set roots I will try pinching back the leader a soon as possible and then pinch back the sets of side shoots too as winter progresses. Most of the last year's cutting wouldn't set side shoots in the summer until the first bloom was almost finished - it happened the year before too. Maybe the delayed first bloom will lead to bushier plants by August?

Rich, I have a S. puberula 'El Butano' that has grown to six feet tall and recently finally started blooming. My impression is that its flowers are very similar to those of the S. oxyphora growing at the nearby J C Raulston Arboretum. This similarity led me to wonder whether it might be possible to cross these two?

This year we are growing the bulk of our oxyphora from our own seed. We now have 2 selected varieties as well, after going through hundreds of seedlings to find ones that are compact, well branched, bloom early and have large floral displays. I'll post pics as soon as I can.

By the way, I have had zero success hybridixing with this species, which is a shame.

Thanks- I grow mine under simple shoplights no gro-lights. I place them in front of this large window for photo taking. But later on they will need to be in front of this window as I will need the shoplights for seedlings. Winter light in front of this window is not acceptable for a long periods but for a short stay will be acceptable.

If Salvias bloom at inopportune times, there will be slight chance of success. Seed set will fail if the plant is stressed. I'm looking at a lot of blooms in my greenhouse now, and they all have pollen, but the flowers are falling out quickly and are about half normal size.

In reference to the photos I posted above of the oxyphora of which Im quite proud they are really outgrowing the area under my shoplight even though I switch them around. BTW I dont feel photos do them justice. I will soon be moving them to in front of the slider in which you see them above. Im hoping they dont falter because of the move. Winter light where I live is not the best for growing cuttings but maybe it will suffice for a month or two.

My success for over wintering this plant outside has been nil over the past two years, but I did overwinter one in a pot in my garage with mulch this past winter. Also good success with the following cuttings kept inside over the winter.

This ambitious plant has jumped ahead of the others

This one I call "twin turbos" havent had one split in quite this way before but should create quite a presentation when it starts flowering.

Kermit C, which species did you try hybridizing with oxyphora? I struck out last year as well but am taking another stab at it now with S. urica and a S. mexicana that's blooming again in the cool spring that we've had. Last time I used oxyphora pollen so this time I'm trying it as the seed parent and I'm seeing some seed developing with the mexicana cross. Now I just need to be sure not to accidentally break that branch off...

When I planted my oxyphora I sprinkled in some osmocote. I also gave it a shot of liquid fertilizer on June 3rd. If this plant is a heavy feeder, how often should I be giving it additional liquid fertilzer?

My one oxyphora did ok this year (my first year growing it). This photo was taken in mid October when it was blooming the best. It liked the cool late-season weather. It bloomed ok during summer, but intense heat caused young buds to die. Growth-wise, the plant grew more slowly and remained smaller than I expected. If I was going to keep it in that same spot, I'd plant two of them together to fill in the space better. However, I think that spot is too hot so the current plan for next year is to plant one oxyphora in a sunny, but less hot, spot about ten feet off the left edge of the photo and a second oxyphora in a shadier spot on the other side of the yard that gets only morning sun. It will be interesting to see which plant performs better. The two new locations are also easily viewable from the house so I'll finally be able to see if hummers here like oxyphora.

The cuttings I took in late September and early October all rooted quickly. I have three of them growing in 4" pots inside. They grow like weeds, especially under the shoplight(two of them are now in the cool window to keep their growth in check). I've already had to cut a couple of them back.